I'm known for my strong views on mobile technology, online media, and the effect this has on and communication will have on the public conscious and existing businesses.
I've been following this space for over ten years, working with a number of publishers, publications and media companies, some for long periods of time, others for commissions, one-off pieces or a series of articles or shows.
As Scotland’s first podcaster, I continue to be a prominent voice in the rise of podcasting and new media online, and picked up a British Academy (BAFTA) nomination for my annual coverage of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, alongside contributions to Radio 5 Live, the BBC World Service, presenting Edinburgh local radio's coverage of the General Election.
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The Nightmare That Keeps Microsoft Awake... Android On The Desktop

Here’s how it worked as the twenty first century opened. You bought a computer, it had Windows OS on it, and many of you would also buy a copy of Office. Microsoft received a cut on pretty much every consumer computer sold.

Fast forward and while the majority of laptops and desktops still carry ‘the Microsoft tax’ there’s a whole strain of computing that Redmond doesn’t get a slice from. The smartphone and tablet market is one that they would love to be heavily involved in and while they are doing their best, the old frenemy of Apple is nicely established with iOS (and OSX is capturing more ‘large’ computers as time passed) and Google are ruling the roost with Android.

Google, with Android, is the biggest threat to Microsoft. Apple operates on a similar principle to Microsoft – still taking a cut at the point of sale, although in Apple’s case they count hardware and software together, where Microsoft focuses on the software side of things. But Google, with their ‘free’ software, is playing a completely different game. The recurring revenue from users through advertising is the key. The more users in Google’s world, the better Mountain View’s bottom line.

What would be a better way to expand their reach that claim not just the web browser, but the whole desktop?

At the moment Google does have Chrome OS, and a number of hackers, developers, and manufacturers are dabbling with it – Samsung’s Chromebook is one obvious example here. But it is a separate OS to Android. Does Google really need two operating systems?

And here’s the rub, and the worrying thing for Steve Ballmer and Microsoft. If Google rolled their OS efforts behind Android, and worked on a solid desktop distribution for Android, how many manufacturers would be ready to make a switch beyond a single alternative OS machine in their portfolio? How many IT departments would be ready to support the system? How many consumers would feel confident with their computer running the same operating system as their mobile phone?

Mainstream users won’t make the jump until they can see that the option is viable, that an Android computer will fulfil all their needs, and that it’s not a weird geeky option… in general people need to see other people using the OS to be confident in switching.

A manufacturer is going to need to bite the bullet and commit to Desktop Android, assuming Google go ahead with the project and give it corporate weight (as opposed to a few indie hackers in the company using the famed twenty percent time).

Microsoft are already feeling the pressure from Google as Google Docs reduced the demand for the Office product suite, and that pressure is going to continue. If Google was to go on the offensive and target the desktop and laptop market with the same reckless vigor that they went after the smartphone market and the mobile advertising dollar… that’s going to put a serious dent in Microsoft’s core revenue stream, while bringing in more eyeballs for Google.

I’ve no information on the likelihood if an Android OS will ever have an official desktop version, but then neither does Microsoft. But I’ll put good money on them having considered the possibility, and what it would do to Microsoft’s business model and what the loss of a decent percentage of the OS market would do to them.

Consumers switching away from Windows to Android? For Microsoft that’s the stuff of nightmares.

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I look at it a different way… When I can explain and have something fixed with a single cut and paste instead of click here, right click this, select that dropdown here select this other thing, drill down here go to this tab scroll halfway down the screen and change the way value in this text box, click ok, select confirm, reboot the computer… It makes my soul smile…

Now if people need help…. Cut this and paste it into the terminal, thank you and go about your day.

I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who works in IT and is familiar with Windows, Linux and MacOS. Saying that it’s not designed to work with desktop hardware is a misnomer. Keep in mind that the core of Android is Linux, the most popular OS on servers. The vast majority of desktop hardware is supported in Linux and all Android would require is a new Kernel recompiled with support for desktop hardware. This is not rocket science, Linux users do this all the time (often without even knowing it). The hardware that Linux installations are working with on servers is certainly far more powerful than even a top end self-built desktop. Also, you’ve obviously never used a desktop distro of Linux if you think that it’s not customizable. Any novice user can change the entire interface in just minutes and every possible tweak you can think of is an option. You should download Ubuntu and install it on an old machine or boot to the live CD to see what I’m talking about. You can also see that it’s easy, even for novice users. I concur with Ewan that what this idea needs is corporate backing.

As far as dualbooting goes, with how cheap RAM has become and how common multi-core processors have become, there’s no reason to think one can’t have a virtual machine running in the background at all times. I’ve been toying with the idea of rolling a linux distro specifically designed to load up VMs and be able to switch between them quickly. Multi monitor setups would allow moving from one OS to the next simply by moving the mouse.

But that’s neither here nor there.

As far as an android desktop goes, I can definitely see it happening. But not until android has been given the kind of power it needs for the desktop market.

Like any machine, it’s not one size fits all. Obviously, the more web based tools your company uses, the easier it will be for you to use a Chromebook. However, with many companies adopting virtual desktops, there’s not much of an issue with using a Chromebook in the enterprise. I connect to a virtual desktop using the Citrix Receiver if I need to work during my off hours. For departments like sales and service, I think it’s a no brainer. Keep in mind, a lot of users are already working from home on their Macs that also don’t natively support the software they use at work. They are typically connecting to a terminal server, or some sort of virtual desktop.

I also disagree with your assertion that installing Linux = more support calls. Ubuntu or Linux Mint are my options when I want to deploy a locked down desktop that can’t be broken by users.